In the end, thanks to the weird way that the frozen grizzlies positioned themselves to guard the mountain, and because of the darkness of the night, Jake had a hard time finding the dungeon entrance. They didn't stay in a single place and in large numbers, but Jake realized that it was a pretty efficient way to form many lines of defense and pick the enemies out off the guard. Fortunately, things improved a bit when morning came, and then Jake finally managed to see a cave around two hundred meters away from the base of the mountain. When he decided to check it, he found many piles of snow where the frozen grizzlies suddenly appeared from.
"Jackpot, huh," Jake said while he was moving away and preparing his shurikens to hit the enemies.
Jake never imagined that kitting would work so well in real life, it helped though that the area around was so slippery, so Jake had just to kick the ground while using Explosive Touch to slide down the mountain while firing the shurikens. He collided against some trees and rocks, but nothing major happened. The pain from such incidents was starting to decrease more and more because of his resistance and because he was getting that much stronger than before...
Eventually, Jake reached the base of the mountain and he was out of shurikens, so he equipped his sword since with the daylight on his side, there was nothing stopping him from kicking the asses of the remaining frozen grizzlies. Things were starting to get interesting... while using the shurikens was fun, nothing beats the feeling of defeating his enemies when he was that close to them. Hake wondered if there was something wrong with this head...
When the monsters got close enough, Jake suddenly kicked the ground and used Explosive Touch. All of a sudden, his charge speed increased tremendously, and he hit the stomach of one of the grizzlies before the beast could react. He also pierced the chest of the monster, but the real important fact was that he pushed the beast backward and made it collide against four others.
That surprised Jake a bit, it looked like his speed increased by two times thanks to that and while the environment helped him, it was a useful thing to know nonetheless. In any case, when the other monsters approached, Jake repelled their claws by swinging his sword in an arc, and in that short window of time, he charged toward them and beheaded one. While he was falling, he used Mana Blades three times in a row and at the neck of another beast, the creature also suffered the same fate and died.
If Explosive Touch could work in the air, Jake would have so much mobility as the skill leveled up… but it didn't. Things couldn't be that convenient for him. Nevertheless, he used that technique several times to wipe out the remaining beasts in a matter of seconds. He was getting used to the weather and the enemies, so it was only natural that he was starting to defeat the monsters a lot faster than before. That improved Jake's mood.
"As expected, there is nothing like real battle experience," Jake thought while looking at the corpses around him. "Those things caused me so much trouble yesterday and now they can't do a thing against me. Well, it is time to work."
Jake skinned the monsters and got the other materials as well before going to the dungeon. Now that he was already there, it would be better if the clears the dungeon before returning to his home.
After he approached the cave, Jake saw some monsters leaving it, so he confirmed that the entrance was really there, but he found it weird that the monsters left in groups of three and that they only appeared every five minutes. That didn't speed up their spawning speed, but it still was weird. In any case, Jake decided to check the dungeon shop for new gear and skills and he found some. As expected, most of them were based on the weather of that world, so they helped with and against ice magic.
Frozen Claw (0%)
Strength + 10, Intelligence + 10, Ice Trap, master this item to obtain its effects permanently.
Durability: 30/30
Ice Trap: When activating the skill and touching the ground, you will create an ice trap that will pierce the enemy with an ice spear the moment they step there.
Cost: 30 mana
Frozen Ring (0%)
Mentality + 10, Willpower + 10, master this item to obtain these effects permanently.
Durability: 10/10
Ice Trap was more like a spell than skill, so Jake didn't want to learn it, but ignoring those status points would be stupid… so, he got those items and each one of them cost one hundred thousand coins. The price was escalating quickly considering that Jake didn't obtain decent drops while he was looking for the dungeon.
In any case, before heading to the last part of the dungeon, Jake decided to rest a little while he kills the monsters that appear here and there. He also would get some time to master those items, so it would be fine. Given how much of a hard time he had on the previous day against small groups of those Grizzlies, perhaps he should wait a few more days, but Jake wasn't the type to run away from a challenge. Even if that was the smart thing to do.
In any case, the bosses usually had some similarities with the monsters of a dungeon, be it skills or action, so Jake had a good idea of what to expect. The rest he can learn during the fight to make things more exciting.
"That being said, four to five attacks of the Grizzlies can put me out of commission, so perhaps the boss can do that with one or two hits… Maybe I should try to learn the better version of Lesser Vampirism," Jake thought.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel